11 News: After a week of taking over operations for Colorado’s suicide prevention lifeline, the new operators are calling their transition a success.
In May, hundreds of people from Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners told they would be laid off. They were the ones who handled calls to the 988 hotline number that were made in Colorado.
Amid the impending layoffs, Colorado’s Behavioral Health Administration awarded a bid to an out-of-state company to take over operations.
Solari Crisis and Human Services is a nonprofit based in Arizona. They worked with Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners as they prepared to transition services and, as of September 1, they have been the sole operator for the hotline.
“We had a midnight transition on a holiday weekend,” CEO Justin Chase explained, “but it was very successful.”
Since the start of the month, he said they have taken 8,000 calls to the 988 number. Their pickup time is 30 seconds, which he says they are working to get down to 15 before setting an even lower goal as they work to answer calls as quickly as possible.
“A lot of that’s really with new staff learning new technology,” Chase said. “We’re just learning when calls come in, how long they’re lasting and just getting acclimated to all that.”
Despite being an Arizona-based company, Chase said Solari has a call center based out of Denver with 189 full-time positions filled. Chase said the center is fully staffed, partially with people who worked with Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners, and partially with community members who have backgrounds in human services.
But Chase said one of the most important parts of staffing is ensuring they know Colorado.
“That’s the most critical piece next, beyond the training of the staff, is making sure they know what’s available out in the community.”
Chase said they are working to assure the public that their staff are knowledgeable and capable of handling their problems.
“There’s healthy skepticism, which we understand, being an outsider coming into a new state, and for that, it comes out to trust, and it’s gonna take time. We have to earn it,” Chase said.
Part of that, he said, is building partnerships with local organizations and knowing which resources are available on that local level to be able to best direct people going through a crisis to the best possible resource.
But most importantly, he said he wants to get the word out about what the 988 suicide prevention lifeline can do for anyone in need.
“There’s no situation too big or too small for us to really be able to provide value and support.”
Solari is the new operator on the other side of the line, but the 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline is still, as always, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for any mental health emergency.